Category Archives: Canada

If you ever get a chance to visit Toronto, it is a lovely city! Winter’s may be tough, but my last visit was in the summer! Whew! Some great views, places to visit and wonderful restaurants. Right near the Convention Center you can find Union Station. A walk down here is an eye pleaser! The curved glass roof above is pretty cool! I shot it this day from a few spots. Trying to get some cool angles. I have to laugh at the advertisement for Kleenex on the sides. I guess many colds occur in Toronto? With long winters there, I can probably agree. I am not sure if I have ever seen an ad for Kleenex other than TV. Guess it is better than an ad for depends!

Here is some info from the web: Union Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto, located on Front Street West and occupying the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the trainshed and trackage is owned by the commuter rail operator GO Transit. Serving 200,000 passengers a day,it is the busiest passenger transportation facility in Canada.

Inter-city trains at Union Station are operated by Via Rail (also operates VIA-Amtrak train to New York) and Ontario Northland, while commuter rail services are operated by GO Transit. The station is also connected to theToronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway and streetcar system via an adjoining TTC station. GO Transit’s Union Station Bus Terminal, located across Bay Street from the station building, is connected via the trainshed. Union Station is the central terminal for GO Transit, handling approximately 41 million commuter rail passengers in 2004. Union Station is also located at the centre of Canada’s busiest inter-city rail service area, termed “The Corridor” by Via, that stretches from Quebec City in the east to Windsor in the west. As such, Union Station is Via’s most-used facility; the station saw 2.34 million Via Rail boardings in 2004, more than half of all Via passengers carried systemwide that year.

Here is a nice neck bender HDR for you! When in downtown Toronto…look up and you will see the CN Tower. I have posted details on this tall tower…it is fun to take the elevator up to see wonderful views of Toronto. They even have a glass floor on the viewing deck!

Here is some info of the observation area: The main level is seven stories, some of which are open to the public. Below the public areas — at 338 metres (1,108.9 ft) — is a large white donut-shaped radome containing the structure’s microwave receivers. The glass floorand outdoor observation deck are at 342 metres (1,122.0 ft). The glass floor has an area of 24 square metres (258 sq ft) and can withstand a pressure of 4,100 kilopascals (595 psi). The floor’s thermal glass units are 64 millimetres (2.5 in) thick, consisting of a pane of 25-millimetre (1.0 in) laminated glass, 25 millimetres (1.0 in) airspace and a pane of 13-millimetre (0.5 in) laminated glass. Some people experience acrophobia when standing on the glass floor and looking down at the ground 342 metres (1,122.0 ft) below. In 2008, one elevator was upgraded to add a glass floor panel, believed to have the highest vertical rise of any elevator equipped with this feature.The Horizons Cafe and the lookout level are at 346 metres (1,135.2 ft). The 360 Restaurant, a revolving restaurant that completes a full rotation once every 72 minutes, is at 351 metres (1,151.6 ft). When the tower first opened, it also featured a disco named Sparkles, billed as the highest disco and dance floor in the world.

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If you have ever seen the Toronto skyline – one noticable sight is the CN Tower. It is situated right next to the Rogers Centre (Sky Dome) and is one of the world’s tallest free structures on land.

Here is some info from the web: The concept of the CN Tower originated from a 1968 Canadian National Railway desire to build a large TV and radio communication platform to serve the Greater Toronto Area, as well as demonstrating the strength of Canadian industry, and CN in particular. These plans evolved over the next few years, until the project became “official” in 1972. Construction on the CN Tower started on February 6, 1973 with massive excavations at the tower base for the foundation. The CN Tower opened to the public on June 26, 1976, although the official opening date was October 1st. The construction costs of approximately $330 million 2005 Canadian Dollars (approximately $260 million 2005 US Dollars) were repaid in fifteen years. CN sold the Tower prior to taking the company public in 1995, when they decided to divest themselves of all operations not directly related to their core freight shipping businesses.

Tickets are available at the base of the tower and you can take the elevator up and get some great veiws of the city! The SkyPod is the world’s second highest observation deck in the world (second to Shanghai’s World Financial Center). On a clear day you may be able to see across Lake Ontario and see Rochester or even the mist rising from Niagara Falls!

This shot was definately a neck bender! I took this with my IR (infrared) camera and added a filter in Color Efex Pro 3.0. Hope your day is looking up!!

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This photo above is from within the city of Toronto near Union Station. I was walking and noticed that the CN Tower was nicely reflected in the building. I set up my tripod and cable relase and took 5 exposures to capture this HDR. The smoke stack from the one building adds a nice effect!

Toronto, Canada is a beautiful city to visit. The people are so nice and there are many sights to see and experience. Here is some info from the web on Toronto: You may already know that Toronto is home to the world’s tallest building (CN Tower at 553.33 m) and that the world’s longest street starts at the City’s lakeshore (Yonge Street at 1,896 km), but did you know that Toronto is as far south as the French Riviera or that more people live in Toronto than in Canada’s four Atlantic provinces combined? Some great sights to see in Toronto are the CN Tower, the Sky Dome (Rogers Centre – where the Toronot Blue Jays play baseball), Air Canada Centre (where the Toronto Maple Leafs play hockey), Fort York, New City Hall, the Pier and Toronto Zoo.

This additonal photo is an HDR of the Rogers Centre with the CN Tower in the background. I’ll post an HDR of the CN Tower in the future and give you detials. Its a great spot to sightsee…especially when you are high above the city! From Buffalo to Toronto is about a 90 minute drive. And in between you can visit Niagara Falls! About 1 hour south of Toronto via car. Have a great day…aye!

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I have been traveling alot recently and just got back froma trip to the North East. I visited one great little city…Toronto, Canada. I didn’t have much time to take tons of photos…just took a few I was looking for. This shot was my main goal. I have been enjoying HDR shots of train stations. This is Union Station located near the Rogers Centre and the CN Tower. This location is where Union Station and the Metro Convention Center (South Building) meet. There is a walkway that opens into this great view!

I set my tripod and dodged the people with my cable release in hand and took 5 exposures. The angle and color were perfect for an HDR. Added to it… the light at the end of the tunnel effect…lucky timing! The remainder of the staion is just ok, maybe at night it may be better? I’ll post some details on Toronto with another photo tomorrow. Until then!